My name is Susan Gage, and I am both a Licensed Massage Therapist and an Episcopal priest. As part of my Rule of Life, I have pledged to donate a portion of my massage earnings to a non profit that is doing the holy work of building up people and making our world a better and more just place for everyone. For March, I have chosen Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center to receive these funds. Please find enclosed a check for $103.00 to help in your efforts.
Whenever we baptize someone in the Episcopal Church, we pledge as a faith community to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” Human trafficking, be it for sex or labor, violates this pledge. It exploits the most vulnerable people, especially in the sex trafficking community where LGBTQ+ youth can often find themselves trapped into prostitution when they get kicked out of their homes. As a massage therapist. I am always having to work against the public perception of my profession as “sex work” because of the human trafficking that uses massage “parlors’ as a front.
Thank you for what you are doing to educate people and disrupt these systems of oppression and exploitation!
Peace be with you,
The Rev. Susan C. Gage, LMT
Florida Massage License MA 37370
Priest-in-Charge. St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Valdosta, Georgia
